The sequel to Wilson Yip’s Ip Man biopic, tentatively titled Ip Man 2 (originality: null points) focuses on Ip Man’s move to Hong Kong in 1949 and subsequent attempts to spread the word about Wing Chun.

As expected, Donnie Yen takes on the title role as Ip Man again. I think he did a tremendous job in the first film and hope he does us proud again in the next one.

Ip Man And Bruce Lee

Although the sequel starts in 1949, rumour has it that a young Bruce Lee will not appear in Ip Man 2. To put the story in context, in 1953 Bruce Lee started Wing Chun lessons with Ip Man at the age of 13. Originally, the film was set to show the relationship between Bruce Lee and Ip Man, but as negotiations with Bruce’s family are still underway, it is anticipated that the kung fu legend (Bruce Lee, that is) will appear only in Ip Man 3. I have not a clue who could play the role of the great Bruce Lee. But for a bit of fun, I’ll now have a guess at… Tony Jaa for his extreme athleticism or Jet Li simply for his kung fu prowess. Tony Jaa seems more of a gymnast than a martial artist though…

Tony Jaa In Ip Man 2?

Jet Li In Ip Man 2?

For my money, I’d prefer to see Jet Li. I just couldn’t resist this excuse to show some excellent Jet Li high octane bludgeoning  from Unleashed!

Owing to the negotiations with the Lee family, the original plan to shoot movies 2 and 3 concurrently has been shelved. Work on Ip Man 2, however, will start in August 2009. That’s only 4 months away.

Unlike the first Ip Man movie, the second will feature appearances by Sammo Hung, who plays a Hung Gar master pitted against Yen.  In 1949 Hong Kong there was a tradition of rivalry between “girly” Wing Chun and “manly” Hung Gar.  With Sammo Hung being the Hung Gar exponent in Ip Man 2, you can predict where this one is going. This film sees Ip Man trying to establish Wing Chun as the deadly art it is. The last time Sammo and Donnie fought one another was in Wilson Yip’s Kill Zone (SPL) in 2005.

The official line is that the HK$100 million sequel will be released some time towards the end of 2010. Unbelievably, imdb already have an entry for Ip Man 2!

Though not strictly related to Wing Chun, with all the furore going on about the Ip Man movie, and with Donnie Yen taking the starring role as Ip Man, here are some details about the Donnie Yen Training Routine. Here is an impressive showcase of not just his training routine, but also his excellent all round martial arts skills. The first half comprises Donnie Yen’s training, whereas the second half is more a showcase of his film roles (and obvious skill). There is also some behind the scenes footage.

As you can see, his training includes:

• boxing
• ground fighting
• cardio work (obviously)
• nunchaku
• bag work

Here is a very informative video that gives some background to Yen’s childhood and introduction to the martial arts by his mother. His mother started his training when he was a mere four years old.

Here is some footage of Ip Chun practising chi sau with Donnie Yen. I’m sure like everyone else, I was trying to gauge Yen’s Wing Chun skill from this footage. It’s hard to do this though as the clip doesn’t reveal much. It’s clear to see that Yen has fast hands, but that must be due to his extensive martial arts experience.

It’s amazing to think that this next clip is 20 years old now! Here Donnie Yen is leading a class on martial arts for the movies, and fight choreography.